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Hippolyta
Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira is the ruler of the Amazons of Themyscira and the mother of Wonder Woman and Troia. =Background= Prehistory Thousands of years ago, before they were worshipped by the people of Ancient Greece, the Olympians lorded their power of cavemen. The God of War that became known as Ares to the descendants of these cavepeople fathered a child by one of the cavewomen. This cavewoman grew up in much the same manner as her fellows and was taken as a mate by one of the caveman. She would eventually became pregnant, but she would never live to see the child. One day her mate returned from a hunt. In this outing, one of his hands had been bitten and torn to shreds by one of the many wild beasts that existed in this time period. In his rage at losing his hand, he beat his mate to death, thusly killing his child as well. This was the first time a woman was ever killed by a man, but it would not be the last. The Goddesses Convene Irritated at how the society of men that worshipped them were not completely following the rules they had set down, the goddesses Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Aphrodite, and Demeter met to vent their frustration and consider their options. Their fellow goddess, Hera, initially stayed out of this meeting because she did not wish to anger her husband, Zeus. The five goddesses decided that they should create champions that would further their causes on Earth and see to it that all peoples would unite under these virtues. Using their powers to reach across time, the goddess took the soul of every woman that had ever been killed by a man in the past, present, and future. They took these souls and imbued them with various blessings: hunting skills from Artemis, warm homes from Hestia, plentiful harvests from Demeter, beauty (inside and out) from Aphrodite, wisdom and intelligence from Athena. The souls were then placed at the bottom of the Aegean Sea where they mixed and melded with the clay there. Because of the divine blessings they had received, the souls were born anew. The first of these new women to break the surface of the Aegean was Hippolyta and she was followed by Antiope. These two sisters were each given a Golden Girdle of Gaea and named the leaders of the Amazons, with Hippolyta in command and Antiope her second. They founded the city of Themyscira and became known as a tribe of fierce warriors among the Ancient World. The Jealousy of Ares The God of War became jealous that these women were fiercer warriors than the men he had supported and favored through the centuries. He sent his half-brother, Herakles, invade the Amazon city and steal the Girdles of Gaea. Hippolyta rode out of the city to meet him to negotiate, but Herakles could not be swayed. He attacked her, attempting to use his superior strength to his advantage, but Hippolyta used her skills in battle, combined with the wisdom bestowed upon her by Athena to figure out how to best the demigod. Still wishing peace, Hippolyta extended an invitation to Herakles and his men: they could join the Amazons, in peace, in a great feast within the walls of Themyscira. Herakles accepted, hiding anger in his heart. Inside the city, Herakles drugged the Amazons' wine. When they were drugged, he and his men took the girdles and enslaved the women. Hippolyta herself was raped by Herakles. The first to throw off the effect of the drugs, Hippolyta cried out for help from Athena; the goddess agreed to help but demanded the Amazons refrain from taking revenge. Hippolyta agreed, and Athena removed the drug from the Amazons' systems and removed their restraints. The problem was that not all of the Amazons agreed to do as Hippolyta had promised. They attacked the men, slaughtering them all, only to find their leaders had fled. Angry that they broke the promise made by their leader, Athena demanded that the Amazons serve penance. Hippolyta and the Amazons that agreed with her line of thought decided to follow the goddess' wishes, while Antiope scoffed at the idea and denounced the Olympians. She gave Hippolyta the girdle they managed to retrieve and left. Hippolyta never learned what happened to her sister after that day. Penance Athena guided the Amazons under Hippolyta to the seashore, where she explained that as penance, the Amazons would watch over a portal to the Underworld known as Doom's Doorway. They were given immortality as the journey to the Doorway and the resulting watch over this doorway would both be long. Poseidon cleared a way across the seas for the women until they came to the island that housed the door. There they founded a new city and named it Themyscira after the one that Herakles and his men had sacked. Once the Amazons were settled upon the island, Hippolyta held a contest to choose the most skilled of her sisters. The victor, Nu'Bia, was chosen to protect the doorway from within the Underworld, while the remaining Amazons would guard it from the outside. Here they remained for three thousand years, living life in peace, paying homage to the gods. The First Visitor One day the peaceful life of the Amazons was shattered not once, but twice. Overheard an airplane flown by Diana Rockwell Trevor was low on fuel and damaged in a dogfight against Nazi planes during a World War II battle. As the plane came to a crash in the forests on Themyscira, the search party that went looking for the downed plane heard a cry of alarm from Doom's Doorway. Rushing over there they found a creature from the Underworld had escaped and was in the middle of fighting Nu'Bia on the outside. Leading the search party was Hippolyta, who immediately leaped into the fray to help her sister. Meanwhile, Diana Trevor had survived the crash and left the wreckage of her vehicle, following noises of battle to see what was going on. She arrived in time to see the creature knock the Amazons back and advance on an unarmed Hippolyta, who had lost her sword in the chaos. Thinking quickly, the pilot grabbed a sword and rushed the creature with a loud battle cry, fatally stabbing it when it turned to see who was screaming at it. In its death throws, it severely injured Diana Trevor. The woman died in Hippolyta's arms, but not before she gave her name and her hometown. Thinking her family would want to have the woman's remains, Hippolyta donned ceremonially armor, sword, and shield which had been created for her by Hephaestus centuries prior, and headed back into man's world. She could have never expected what she would find. Our World At War Hippolyta emerged in a world in the throes of the Second World War. On the shores of North Africa, where she ended up, she found an Allied encampment that was dealing with constant assaults from a contingent of Nazi soldiers in the area. Though it took some time, Hippolyta's natural intelligence helped her learn the language the Allied troops were speaking -- English -- and she managed to communicate that she was attempting to locate the family of a pilot. While the officers assured the strangely-dressed woman that they would make sure the pilot's remains were sent back to her family, the encampment came under attack. Unwilling to simply leave the encampment behind, for she had learned something of what the war was about, Hippolyta joined the fray. Using the bracers that she and her sisters had worn since they had become free of their enslavement, she deflected many bullets back at the German soldiers that fired them, saving the lives of more than a few Allied soldiers. With her sword and shield crafted by the god of smiths, Hippolyta helped the soldiers scatter the German soldiers and take the offensive in the area. When superiors back in London asked how the troops had managed to gain enemy ground, the message relayed to them was that they had been helped by "a wonderous woman". Wonder Woman Hippolyta probably should have returned to Themyscira at this point. Her curiosity, however, had been fired and her wander lust kicked in. She wanted to see more of this world, strange as it was from the one she was used to, even if it was currently at war. The report to army officers in London reached the media, who began to call her 'Wonder Woman'. They were there to meet her and ask her all kinds of questions when it had been accidently leaked that she was coming to London. She accompanied the remains of Diana Trevor and refused to abandon the remains until her next of kin had been contacted. When she finally met the family, she explained that Diana had saved her life and she hadn't wanted the woman's remains to remain where she had crashed and her family remain unaware of her fate. Only after this did she consent to meet with Allied commanders. She agreed to help them because they were fighting for things she believed in. Freedom, to name one. In her work for the Allies, she met others, labeled heroes by the media, that worked to end the reign of the Axis Powers in Europe and Asia. She became good friends with many of them, and though she did not tell them of the Amazons, she did tell them her name. Her life story was generalized, made easier for them to believe. She wasn't Hippolyta of Themyscira. She was Hippolyta Prince. Their reply was to nickname her 'Polly', but to the commanders, she was always Wonder Woman. When the war was over, she realized she was no longer needed. The threat to the world -- both Man's World and her own world on Themyscira -- was over. The world no longer needed Wonder Woman, so Hippolyta returned to her home and her sisters. The First Child It was when she was back on the island that Hippolyta grew restless. She did not wish to travel beyond her island's shores. No, not again. What was stirring in her soul was that which she been denied in her previous life. She longed for a child. She prayed to her gods in secret and they told her to go to Themyscira's shores. They told her to shape the clay there into the form of an infant, which she promptly did. The goddesses united once more, along with Hermes this time (who had come to support the goddesses and Amazons) and breathed life into the clay infant, placing the soul of Hippolyta's daughter from a previous life into the clay. They turned her to flesh and blood and blessed her. In honor of the woman that had saved her life, Hippolyta called her new daughter Diana. The island as a whole raised Diana. They taught her what it meant to be an Amazon. They taught her the arts of war, they taught her horseback riding, herbalism, art... everything they knew, they taught Diana. Hippolyta watched her daughter grow and learn. The Queen swelled with pride. The young Diana was safe everywhere on the island by Doom's Doorway; so attuned to nature was she that the animals would not harm her. The Second Visitor It happened once and it happened again. A jet dove out of the sky and crashed into the waters off the shore of Themyscira. The pilot, a man, was saved by Hippolyta's daughter. Unhappy with a man on the island, the Gods decreed that the Amazons had to hold a contest to choose a champion that would be sent to Man's World to spread the Amazon mission of peace. Although Hippolyta forbid her daughter to take part, Diana covered her head with a helmet, as all the other competitors did, so no one knew it was her. Diana ended up winning. Although Hippolyta forbid her daughter to leave the island, Zeus himself decreed that Diana be the champion of her people. The Princess was then given many gifts, including the Golden Girdle which her mother still had. It was transformed by the gods into a lasso which she would use in her mission. With a heavy heart, Hippolyta bid her daughter goodbye and told her she would always be welcome on Themyscira and that if she ever needed her people, they would always be there for her. The Island Nation of Themyscira Through her daughter's efforts on the mainland, the Amazon mission became known, though she was known more for her deeds as Wonder Woman that as an ambassador. Hippolyta made a choice, supported by the gods. Themyscira would join the rest of the world and no longer hide from Man's World's view. Diana, their champion, would be the ambassador of a people. Hippolyta found herself thrust into the world stage along with her daughter, not as a heroine, but as the leader of a nation of women. She became recognized the world over as the Queen of Themyscira. Seeking to push the mission of peace for all peoples, Hippolyta began to develop a reputation as a peacemaker. She remained on Themyscira and ruled. Her occasional journeys into the outside world were as a leader, not the champion she had once been, and she pushed the message of peace whenever she could. An embassy was founded in the United States for her people and it was through this edifice that the Amazons tried to inform the populace of their desire for peace, just like Hippolyta would do those times she would leave the island. She worried for her daughter constantly, not just because of the occasional battles that were brought to her attention by Amazons that worked at the embassy, but because she had seen what the world was capable of once upon a time and feared that such horrendous actions may occur again. Haven When the Metahuman Registration Act was passed, Hippolyta opened the doors of Themyscira as a haven to all those good people who wished to avoid having to register their names and capabilities with the government. They were given places to stay, food, and clothing for the duration of their stay. When the MRA was repealed, the guests that stayed on Themyscira were permitted to leave, but were also allowed to stay if they wished. As Hippolyta stated in a release to the media at the time, although she (and by extention, the Amazons of Themyscira) recognized and respected the government that created the MRA, they understood the sentiment behind the creation of the MRA, they would not stand by any attempt by any government to control their citizens and know/control their personal lives. As such, Themyscira would stand in support of those who wished to flee or stand against such things. Daring, perhaps. It was this speech that solidified Hippolyta's (and Themyscira's) place in the world as a beacon of hope and peace. =Personality= Regal It is a rare thing indeed to see or hear of Hippolyta acting like anything other a monarch: calm, cool-headed, authoritative, but fair. In her dealings with everyone, no matter who they are, she always projects the bearing of royalty. This even comes across with the people she cares about... which, on Themyscira, means everyone. She might be an authority figure but she never allows this to go to her head. She's not above letting people see that there are emotions beneath the Queen's exterior, either. She has perfected allowing emotion to creep through, showing that she is not an emotionless monarch. It is this, the fact that she can show emotion even as she does her job, which has endeared her to her fellow Amazons and ensured that she has remained on the throne -- other than appointment by the gods. She, like them, is real. She feels emotions. She can anguish over things. But despite this, she always remains in control. Honest Honesty, Hippolyta feels, is an important quality in a leader. This is why she is always honest. It does matter what she is talking about, either. It could be her worries regarding her daughter in Man's World. It could be the difficulties in a task ahead that she has asked one of her warriors to do. It could just be giving her word that she will be present at a given function or social event. If she says it, it is the truth as she knows it. As she feels it. Finding out others were not always honest when they spoke was quite a shock for her. Protective Her friends, fellow Amazons, her daughter... when it comes to someone she cares about under fire, it doesn't matter who's doing the attacking and whether the attacks are physical or verbal, Hippolyta will leap to their defense. And this defense could be anything from an eloquent speech to blocking attacks and giving her loved one a chance to retreat. If they need her, she will be there within seconds, if possible, to do everything and anything within her power to help them. Confident Hippolyta has seen combat several times in her life. She knows what she is capable of and her perception of what she can do has never faltered. She remains confident even when battling things she has never seen (such as during WWII) and is absolutely unshakeable in her faith that she can defeat a foe on the battlefield. Wise Athena gifted Hippolyta to be wise. Although Hippolyta does not look her age (she is well over three thousand), she does seem to possess a wisdom that is beyond her physical age. She is easily able to pick up on new concepts and ideas and even things like languages with little difficulty. She dispenses advice based on experience and what her wisdom tells her is right and unlike the advice of many who give it simply to give it, Hippolyta's advice is, more often than not, the right kind. She does not brag about this, however and will simply say the goddesses were kind enough to give her the kind of wisdom needed to help people. Humble Despite having been gifted by the goddesses many times over, Hippolyta is not one to brag about these gifts. She always, when they are brought up in her presence, thanks the gods for their gifts and insists it was due to the kindness of the gods that she was able to do something, help someone, etc. To do otherwise would be to succumb to hubris and that is completely against Hippolyta's character. She knows the goddesses have blessed her life and she is unafraid to admit it. Heroic Hippolyta always follows her conscience and the morals and rules by which she has lived for the last three and a half thousand years. If an innocent is in danger and Hippolyta was present, she would do what she could to help save that person. Seeing evil done angers her incredibly and seeing those that defend the innocent succeed fills her with happiness. As well, Hippolyta refuses to kill people. She lives to spread the message of peace and tolerance, equality and friendship. Killing someone would undermine all she and her sisters are working towards. Motherly It doesn't matter whether she's facing Diana or one of her other sisters, or some poor girl she just met in Man's World. Hippolyta can't help but act like a mother to them all. She is incredibly patient (three and a half thousand years of practice!) and more than willing to listen to anything that someone might have to say to her. She never, ever, raises her voice for no reason. Raising her voice in anger requires Hippolyta to be extremely angry, something that does not happen often. She would much rather raise her voice in celebration. She has a particular soft spot for children in trouble/children who are upset and will do whatever she can to help them out. She is incredibly devoted to her daughter Diana and will do anything to help her, even lay down her own life, should that be necessary. She protects others like a she-wolf protects her cubs and will not back down unless the aggressor has left or been knocked out. Fury Despite having the patience of a saint and remaining calm nearly all the time, it is possible for Hippolyta to become angry. Her anger is like the Furies coming down upon their target. She is swift and decisive when she is angry, focusing her attention upon the object of her anger. When angry, she is utterly unpredictable in combat, chaining together motions and moving as quickly as she can to defeat her opponents. It should be noted that even when roused to such heights of anger, she still follows the Amazon code and will not kill anyone. =Powers= Invulnerability Like the clay she was made from, Hippolyta is much tougher than an ordinary woman of her size and shape. She is capable of withstanding military-grade weaponry, provided that it is not a firearm of some kind. When it comes to firearms (or other piercing/edged attacks, like swords or knives) she must resort to her bracelets to keep herself safe. Standard military grade explosive devices likewise cause her no problems (although shrapnel would). When dealing with edged attacks, Hippolyta's body rating is equal to that of an ordinary woman of her size. Super Reflexes Artemis blessed the Amazons with amazing hunting prowess. This included enhanced reflexes so that they would be able to react more quickly to the game they hunted. Hippolyta is able to process things much more quickly than the average being, allowing her to react faster to threats, such as deflecting bullets or arrows with her bracelets. Super Speed A blessing from Hermes, who sided with the five goddesses after they made their decision, Hippolyta is capable of running up to speeds of 225 mph. Super Strength Like all Amazons, Hippolyta is much stronger than the average human woman. She had been given one of two Golden Girdles of Gaea to begin with however and after the self-imposed separation from the tribe by her sister and sister's followers, she came into possession of the remaining girdle. This girdle, like the one that had been stolen by Herakles, had been created in such a way that it would enhance the powers of Hippolyta and her sister. Three and a half thousand years of exposure to the girdle led to the enhancement of her physical capabilities becoming permanent. With exertion, she is capable of lifting six tons over her head and can bend a steel girder. Logs Logs *2010-02-12 - The KGB & The Gods Play - The KGB attack the Russian Embassy and when things seem tense enough, the Amazons take their Godly brawl to the streets from their Embassy! Category:Characters Category:Features Category:Hero Category:Taken